1
To the world in kindness given;
Welcome to this humble breast,
As the beaming light from heaven.
2
Day of calm and sweet repose,
Gently now thy moments run;
Balm to soothe our cares and woes,
Till our labor here is done.
3
Holy day that most we prize,
Day of solemn praise and prayer,
Day to make the simple wise,
O, how great thy blessings are!
4
Welcome, welcome, day of rest,
With thy influence all divine;
May thy hallowed hours be blessed
to this waiting heart of mine.
391
1
Dear Lord, we come at set of sun,
And at Your feet we kneel
To worship You, Creator, King,
This day, Your sign and seal.
2
Our earthly tasks we lay aside,
According to Your Word,
To enter now Your holy rest,
The Sabbath of the Lord.
3
Sweet Sabbath rest, your sacred hours
Are as a golden chain
That reaches back to Eden’s gate
And points us home again.
4
And when this earth shall be renewed,
And sin and death destroyed,
Shall all redeemed each Sabbath day
Still meet to praise their God.
392
1
Lord of the Sabbath and its light,
I hail Thy hallowed day of rest;
It is my weary soul’s delight,
The solace of my careworn breast,
The solace of my careworn breast.
2
O sacred day of peace and joy,
Thy hours are ever dear to me;
Ne’er may a sinful thought destroy
The holy calm I find in thee,
The holy calm I find in thee.
3
How sweetly now they glide along!
How hallowed is the calm they yield!
Transporting is their rapturous song,
And heavenly visions seem revealed,
And heavenly visions seem revealed.
4
O Jesus, let me ever hail
Thy presence with the day of rest;
Then will Thy servant never fail
To deem Thy Sabbath doubly blest,
To deem Thy Sabbath doubly blest.
394
1
Far from all care we hail the Sabbath morning;
O’er waving fields and from the distant sea
Swell notes of praise in harmony resounding
As all creation turns her heart to Thee.
2
Though man alone, Lord, of Thy great creation
Fails now to laud Thee for Thy love and power,
Yet still a remnant love Thee and remember
Thy holy law and each sweet Sabbath hour.
3
Lord of the Sabbath, Savior and Creator,
Calm now the throbbings of each troubled breast.
Speak to our hearts the peace of Thy commandments,
Breathe on each soul fair Eden’s hallowed rest.
4
Strong in Thy might and quiet in Thy meekness,
May we Thine image bear from day to day.
Then may we enter pearly gates eternal
And sing redemption’s song each Sabbath day.
1
As birds unto the genial homeland fly,
The winter’s cold and low’ring skies to flee,
So seeks my soul Thy gracious presence here
And finds, O God, its rest and peace in Thee.
2
Here at Thy shrine we leave all vexing care,
For get the disappointment, grief and tear,
And on the wings of hopeful song and prayer
We rise, and rising feel Thy Spirit here.
3
Bless all who spend this night in pain and woe,
The burdened heart, the fainting, and distressed,
Thy comfort send to darkened homes bereaved,
Thy saving help to those by want oppressed.
4
Come, Sabbath joy, each trusting heart now fill,
And blissful peace within our homes abide,
May thankful praise each grateful heart now thrill,
And to God’s loving care their lives confide.
395
1
Lord God, Your love has called us here,
As we, by love, for love were made.
Your living likeness still we bear
Tho’ marred, dishonored, disobeyed.
We come, with all our heart and mind
Your call to hear, Your love to find.
2
We come with self inflicted pains
Of broken trust and chosen wrong,
Half free, half bound by inner chains,
By social forces swept along,
By powers and systems close confined,
Yet seeking hope for human kind.
3
Lord God, in Christ You call our name,
And then receive us as Your own,
Not thro’ some merit, right, or claim,
But by Your gracious love alone.
We strain to glimpse Your mercy seat,
And find You kneeling at our feet.
4
Then take the towel, and break the bread,
And humble us, and call us friends.
Suffer and serve till all are fed
And show how grandly love intends
To work till all creation sings,
To fill all worlds, to crown all things.
5
Lord God, in Christ You set us free
Your life to live, Your joy to share.
Give us Your Spirit’s liberty
To turn from guilt and dull despair
And offer all that faith can do,
While love is making all things new.
396
1
An upper room did our Lord prepare
For those loved until the end:
And His disciples still gather there,
To celebrate their risen Friend.
2
And after supper He washed their feet,
For service, too, is sacrament.
In Him our joy shall be made complete
Sent out to serve, as He was sent.
3
A lasting gift Jesus gave His own:
To share His bread, His loving cup.
Whatever burdens may bow us down,
He by His cross shall lift us up.
4
No end there is! we depart in peace.
He loves beyond our uttermost:
In every room in our Father’s house,
He will be there, as Lord and host.
397
1
Bread of the world in mercy broken,
Wine of the soul in mercy shed,
By whom the words of life are spoken,
And in whose death our sins are dead;
2
Look on the heart by sorrow broken,
Look on the tears by sinners shed;
And be Thy feast to us the token
That by Thy grace our souls are fed. Amen.
398
1
Beneath the forms of outward rite
Thy supper, Lord, is spread
In every quiet upper room
Where fainting souls are fed.
2
The bread is always consecrate
Which men divide with men;
And every act of brotherhood
Repeats Thy feast again.
3
The blessed cup is only passed
True memory of Thee,
When life anew pours out its wine
With rich sufficiency.
4
O Master, through these symbols shared,
Thine own dear self impart,
That in our daily life may flame
The passion of Thy heart.
399
1
I come with joy to meet my Lord,
Forgiven, loved and free,
In awe and wonder to recall
His life laid down for me,
His life laid down for me.
2
I come with Christians far and near
To find, as all are fed,
Our true community of love
In Christ’s communion bread,
In Christ’s communion bread.
3
As Christ breaks bread for us to share
Each proud division ends.
That love that made us makes us one,
And strangers now are friends,
And strangers now are friends.
4
And thus with joy we meet our Lord.
His presence always near,
Is in such friendship better known:
We see and praise Him here,
We see and praise Him here.
5
Together met, together bound,
We’ll go our diff’rent ways,
And as His people in the world,
We’ll live and speak His praise,
We’ll live and speak His praise.
400